One Piece Collection No. 8 doesn’t fail to impress and rounds out the final bits of the Skypiea arc and a bit of filler. Eneru has shown his final game plan to destroy the land of Skypeia, along with its citizens and the Straw Hat Pirates. Amongst all of the chaos, we’re also treated to a flashback showing the true story behind Noland the Explorer and his relationship with the Shandoran Warrior, Calgara. All of the events from this past meeting come to a head when Luffy must confront Eneru, before he destroy’s all of Skypiea with his ultimate attack, Raigo, a giant thundercloud orb that emits a giant bolt that can destroy anything in its path. One Piece Collection No. 8 collects episodes 183-205 and wraps up all of the One Piece that Funimation had previously released in smaller sets.

While it certainly is a trait that most shonen anime and manga series have in its main characters, the resolve and conviction that Luffy carries is certainly a highlight for One Piece. Every now and then we’re reminded of it, once he engages in a major battle, but every single time it happens, I can’t help but fall in love with his character. When this happens, we understand that its because of this exact resolve why his crew follows him along and why he’s able to overcome the obstacles that he faces. The ending of the Skypeia arc plays out extremely well, along with a few moments in the very beginning of the set that show off how this show always manages to defy normal conventions and cliche’s, by having situations that would typically happen and turn them on their head. As much as I’ve loved this arc, I don’t feel as though there was as much at stake, like the Alabasta arc. While the stakes are extremely high, the entire group doesn’t go through a growth spurt, like in the previous storyline. The filler of the rest of the set shows the crew having to escape from a heavily fortified Marine base, called the G-8, which is also nicknamed the Navarone.

As usual, this collection contains the typical textless intro and outros and a bevy of trailers for other Funimation properties. With the Skypeia arc ending and a solid round of filler episodes, this set is a definite must have. While I did enjoy the Alabasta arc a little bit more, the Skypeia arc opened up the world of One Piece and did a very great job at providing a grand sense of adventure, as the show has done more and more of, as it moves along. Highly Recommended!

is a graduate from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Audio for Visual Media. He works as a freelance location sound mixer, boom operator, sound designer, and writer in his native Chicago. He's an avid collector of films, comics, and anime.